Corporate Regulations
Corporate Regulations is the name for the current regulations in effect on the station at any given time. It also provides common and uncommon offenses and suggested punishments for them. This is not a general guide to Security. All new officers should review the official Guide to Security. The following are all sentences you can apply to prisoners during your work as a member of Security. It's important to remember that while the regulations on their own are mostly a suggestion, you are expected to follow them as a guideline. For example, you are not required to give a sentence if the problem can be resolved in alternative way that the suspect agrees to, such as community service, or peer mediation. To understand how to go about a proper arrest, or other clarifications such a Prisoner Rights, Alert Levels, and more, see Standard Operating Procedure. Note that Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is not enforced by threat of arrest or fine, so security should not be enforcing it. It is up to heads of staff and Internal Affairs to handle these policies. Interpretation of the Law A good working knowledge of Corporate Regulations is important for any person on the station. It can be the difference between a shiny pair of handcuffs and sipping drinks in the bar. More in-depth interpretations of Corporate Regulations are required for such positions as the Warden, Head of Personnel, Colony Director, and the Head of Security. For certain crimes, the accused party's intent is important. The difference between 'assault' and 'attempted murder' can be very hard to ascertain. It is important to note though, that 'assault' and 'attempted murder' are mutually exclusive. You cannot be charged with 'assault' and 'attempted murder' from the same crime as the intent of each is different. Likewise, 'assault with a deadly weapon' and 'assaulting an officer' are also crimes that exclude others. Pay careful attention to the requirements of each law and select the one that best fits the crime when deciding sentence. If the crime has a victim involved who chooses not to press charges specific to them, security may not decide to press charges anyway. It doesn't matter why. If someone punches someone else, security can still arrest the assailant, but if the victim decides they would rather talk it out instead of them getting jail time, then security should let them do it. Arresting them anyway falls under wrongful arrest. Note, the victim must choose this option. A murder victim cannot voice their choice and therefore cannot choose to drop charges. (Note that not all killings are murder - see Victim In A Willfully Dangerous Position, below, if the victim is resleeved and testifies that it was willing, or the accused testifies that it was willing and there is no evidence to the contrary) This does not mean a victim can excuse all crimes committed by the assailant, only the crimes committed directly against them. Security can still charge the assailant for crimes that, while may have happened at the same time as crimes committed against the victim, did not directly involve the victim. This includes crimes against other people and to property belonging to the base/station/etc. The victim cannot speak on behalf of these entities. Victims suffering from non-contiguous memory disorder may be unreliable witnesses. See Non-Contiguous Memory Disorder for more information. In the case of violent crimes (assault, manslaughter, attempted murder and murder), and theft (petty, pickpocketing, and high value) take only the most severe. A single incident has a single sentence, so if, for instance, the prisoner took 3 items off someone, this is a single count of pickpocketing. Keep in mind that people that cause major mayhem (and potentially any other criminals) have probably committed more than one crime. Add the time for each case together. Aiding a criminal makes you an accomplice; you can be charged with the same crime as the person you aided. As an arresting officer, follow the Guide to Security to ensure you don't fall foul of legal proceedings. Some crimes may have a fine tied to them, in this case, the detained person may either serve the sentence given to them, or pay a fine. Fines can be processed using an EFTPOS scanner or by paying cash from an ATM. Do note, however, that your Head of Security will most likely need to set up an EFTPOS scanner for you, as they need to be configured to place fines into the station security account. Otherwise, turn the cash in to a Warden for safe keeping, or directly to the the Head of Security who can add it to the security account. Additional The Colony Director is not above Corporate Regulations, and can be arrested by Security for breaking it. The only time that the Corporate Regulations can be overridden is when there is an imminent and overwhelming threat to the station, such as during Code Delta evacuations. Pardons are only legitimate if they come from a NanoTrasen higher-up (that is, someone who ranks above the Colony Director). Despite his high ranking, the Colony Director cannot spit in the face of Corporate Regulations, and any attempts to do so are infractions. If you can't find the incident listed in here you can set up a tribunal. See Legal Standard Operating Procedure. Tribunals should be held in place of hearings or trials. Trials by jury or 'regular' trials are usually done very badly, so don't. See Legal Standard Operating Procedure. Do NOT demand a tribunal for anything less than 10 minutes. You'll just be laughed at. The time you took for bringing the suspect in and the time you spend questioning are NOT to be calculated into this. This is the pure time someone spends in a cell staring at the wall. You should apply the suggested sentence unless the Head of Security or Colony Director demands otherwise, or the arrested individual has been a continual problem during the shift. If a sentence is 20 minutes or longer, allow the prisoner access to the communal jail area and not confine them to the cell except in cases of suicide attempts or if their "cell" happens to be the interior of the arresting officer. If further criminal acts are made while imprisoned (such as assaulting another prisoner or breaking windows), the prisoner is to be moved to solitary confinement with charges added to their sentence. If prison time for a single holding accumulates to more than 90 minutes, hold the prisoner until judgement by a tribunal. (( On laggy games first take a look at how quickly the cell timers tick. We don't want people to spend an eternity in jail just for stealing a pair of gloves. )) Resleeving, and how it affects Corp. Regluations Because of the fact that resleeving does not exist in NanoTrasen space outside of a few stations, Corporate Regulations don't account for specific resleeving-related crimes, the following case-law will serve: * Printing bodies and using them for non-emergency purposes without 'owner' consent is negligence in NT space. * Overwriting a functioning, living mind in a working body is murder in NT space. * Creating copies of the same mind in multiple bodies ("forking") is sedition in NT space. Low Level Infractions These infractions carry standard punishments of up to around 10 minutes, and can be set with an officer's discretion. 'Suggested Sentence' values are beside the incidents. 'Additional Penalties' can be decided by authorization of Colony Director, Head of Security, or equivalent (if no HoS or Director are present, then a vote of heads of staff is sufficient. Failing that, the warden. Otherwise, contact Central Command), and do not require tribunals. At the officer's discretion, they may offer community service in place of the sentences below. Because most of these sentences offer fines, you normally won't even bother bringing the offender to Security unless they refuse to pay the fine. If they pay the fine (or carry out community services as an alternative offered at the HoS's discretion), no jail time is to be given. You won't even need to take them to Security for processing. Medium Level Infractions These Infractions carry standard punishments of up to 30 minutes, though typically around 10-15 minutes, and can be set with an officer's discretion. 'Suggested Sentence' values are beside the Infractions. 'Additional Penalties' can be decided by authorization of Head of Security, Colony Director, or equivalent, and do not require tribunals. High Severity Infractions These Infractions generally need to be ruled on by a tribunal as explained by further below, and criminals should be held until judgement can be passed. In a few severe circumstances, permanent removal from the station may occur. Special Infractions These Infractions do not fit into any other category, as their sentences vary greatly from case-to-case. Modifiers & Special Situations These may reduce or increase your sentence depending on circumstances relating to the crimes committed. Commentaries and Clarifications * Community Service: For low-level crimes, at the officer's discretion, they may offer community service as an alternative to the standard penalties. If the suspect elects to carry out the offered task, then the normal sentence is waived. Community Service is at the discretion of the officer, and may be something as simple as "fix the mess you made" for a vandalism charge, to "replace that lunch you stole with yourself". There is no specific limit on what may be appropriate for community service, but officers who offer something too punitive shouldn't be surprised if prisoners just elect to take the custodial sentence instead. * Cyborgification The removal of a person's brain for transplanting into a Cyborg Chassis as an alternative to execution. A prisoner who is sentenced to execution must request or consent to this. * Dismissal: Changing ID title to "Dismissed", which has zero access. Requires the judgement of the prisoner's head of staff or the Colony Director to be valid. * Demotion: Can be demoted down to and including Assistant position. Requires the judgement of the prisoner's head of staff or the Colony Director to be valid. * Employee: Employee of NanoTrasen, as defined by the station's commanding officer. All non-employee subjects are not protected by these laws. * Empowering: Illegal acquiring (not via Head of Personnel or Colony Director) of access. * Execution: Prisoner is killed via means of firing squad, lethal injection, or some other means. It is required for the Colony Director to be present (and not an Acting Colony Director), or an execution may not proceed. It is required to offer the prisoner the option of how they prefer to die. They should also be offered a last meal. It is not required to follow these preferences if they are deemed unreasonable or impossible. In all cases of execution, Central Command should be informed of the execution and the crimes leading up to it. (( A PK may be applicable in this situation. See Permanent Death for OOC details. )) * Head of Staff: Crew members occupying one of the following positions: Colony Director, Chief Engineer, Head of Personnel, Head of Security, Chief Medical Officer, Research Director. * Imminent Peril: A situation in which there is an apparent and immediate threat of serious injury or death, and it is not possible to escape this threat. Obvious examples are shooting someone trying to stab people. A less obvious example is shooting someone trying to sabotage Atmospherics. Lethal force is justified in such a situation because there's no other options remaining. * HuJ / Holding Until Judgement: Held (in the brig) until a tribunal is done, or the shift ends. Whichever happens first. * HuT / Holding Until Transfer: Held (in the brig) until the shift ends. This becomes HuJ when a tribunal is being held for the prisoner. * Severe Injury: A state in which the victim is in a critical condition and is having difficulty maintaining consciousness. Demotion and dismissal also require the removal of equipment from the previous job. Uniforms, weapons, bombs, PDA cartridges, etc. For the purposes of Cyborg/AI laws, crew members that have been convicted, or are being held in detention, are considered to be below even the AI/Cyborgs in terms of rank. Serving sentences in jail can be replaced with forced labor in some cases. In cases where the final sentence is more than 90 minutes, it is changed to holding until judgement. The standard penalty can be applied without a tribunal by Security Officers. Penalties listed here are guidelines. Tribunals can assign lesser or higher ones, depending on the circumstances. Legal Standard Operating Procedure Tribunals are the main way major decisions are made aboard the station There are not often lawyers, and the defendant does not have to be involved. There is not specified length for how long a tribunal must be. The AI may be called in as a replacement Head of Staff if there are not sufficient numbers, and it can be trusted to be accurate. Basically it's the same as the old trial, but without a jury and slightly streamlined. * Purpose: For crimes or decisions that require more than one person, or crimes where there is no set punishment. * Overview: Three to Six Heads of Staff must discuss this issue and vote on the outcome. * Process: The Colony Director or acting Colony Director should call the Heads of Staff for a tribunal with the situation and proposed outcome. This can be done formally in a meeting room, or informally over radio. * Conviction: The tribunal must vote on the outcome, and the outcome must win by a majority vote (over 50%). If there is a tie, the Colony Director's vote wins. * Sentencing: If the vote passes, the outcome may be enacted, usually by Security. The decision can be appealed once by either the defendant or the Colony Director. OOC Notes * It's vital to know that the involvement of CentCom means involvement of admins. However, if that happens, admins will try to keep in character. Ergo, the character is not going to magically know attack logs or fingerprints or anything else they don't know IC, because it's like playing a game with cheat codes. It's fun to screw off for a little while, but then it's going to get really boring. ** The above also applies in the case of admins playing normal Security. ** The only exception to the above is in the case of potentially removing a character from the station. See Permanent Death for details. Admins are not going to PK someone who they know OOCly didn't actually do the crime. * Corporate Regulations ARE NOT RULES for the server its self! That means, so long as you have a believable in-character motive for breaking these regulations, you won't get banned for it. Conversely, if you're just going around smashing windows for shits and giggles, you're obviously going to get yelled at by an admin. See the actual server rules for more details. Category:Guides